Andrews – If brevity is the soul of wit, then the audience during Comedy Night at The Blue Stage on Friday was left wanting more.
In-house emcee and local comedian Logan Massey warmed up the crowd and in-between sets for the triple bill, including Beth Tompkins and Kevin Shockley, both of Knoxville, Tenn., and headliner Sonya White of Clinton, Tenn.
Massey told tales of possum tattoos and getting generational advice about body art and the retail hellishness of handing out masks during COVID-19. He went on to teach the crowd how not to give chores as Christmas gifts because sometimes you just wind up making more work for the whole family instead of yourself.
Also a deejay at WUTK radio, Tompkins took the stage with aplomb weaving a tapestry of Generation X references to single motherhood, the woes of dating apps and the obstacles of living near Oak Ridge giving nods to the infamous three-eyed fish from The Simpsons.
She then went on to discuss the struggles of community college life and how to get a two-year degree on a five-year plan.
With allusions to the mysteries of ancient Egypt, the band INXS and correct pronunciations of their name and how not to be a narc, Tompkins closed her set to much applause.
Next up, Shockley lamented all things named Kevin and the debilitating effect misnomers of any kind can have on young boys and men. From birthday parties gone awry during the Clinton administration to the rabbit hole that is watching various factoid YouTube videos, he spoke his truth into hilarity and tried to solve the mystery of spiders producing milk.
Also up for mocking and merriment was the restaurant industry, in which Shockley works and mines some of his best material, and its attempts at team building and being picked last for that very activity.
Shockley’s last batch of wittiness took a jab at vegans and whether now all games naming animals will have to be changed due to such sensitivities. And, as Shockley promised, we did get a lot of the jokes on the way home even after playing the opposite game.
Nationally featured on Comedy Central along with various other media outlets, White blazed onto the stage with her glittery jacket and snakeskin boots ready to tackle her definite resemblance to the queen of all things butter, Paula Deen. Using that a jumping-off point, White then regaled the crowd with several spot-on impressions of both her doppelgänger Deen and many other famous women of comedy and cookery.
Quite the chameleon, she then ran the gamut of famous sitcom ladies and possible reactions to the pandemic, including every “Golden Girl,” with a special breathiness on Rue McClanahan and perfect blend of sweet and daft for Betty White; to the differences between Laverne and Shirley, which is a Boo-Boo kitty; to Mary Tyler Moore’s always asking Lou Grant for a raise; and finished with a perfectly inflected Miss Jane Hathaway endlessly searching for Jethro.
White channeled the melodic Star Trek theme when discussing our attachment to modern technology then went on to showcase her penchant for international accent preferences for her GPS settings with much “ooh-la-la” from the audience.
Touching on many a feminine issue or six, ranging from dating younger men in middle-age to hoop earrings and attracting sugar daddies, White also clued us in to the fact that sometimes television drug commercials get us to dancing along with the appropriated music from our youth to singing their catchy jingles, even though we have no idea what the drug is used for, hoping we don’t already need it or suffer those dreaded side effects everyone seems so cheery about.
Playing it more than Southern to wrap up her set, she then pontificated about what a wholesome town is and is not, according to those who are among the tattooed versus the unmarked, to them that wear the piercings or the pearls, and to those who ride the pole and those who watch, deferring to how Cracker Barrel is some people’s church and gravy and biscuits is a food group, leaving with a standing ovation.
The Blue Stage hopes to provide more comedy showcases in the fall and winter.
Details: thebluestage.com.